Q I have a problem regarding Windows 95 and floppy drives which has been annoying me for quite a while. It occurs when opening a file from a browse box, creating a Shortcut, or saving a file downloaded from the internet. The problem is that upon clicking Open or Save, the system starts searching the A-Drive for about 10 seconds or so, as if trying to find the file on a floppy disk. I have had this problem recur several times now and on several systems. I admit I do tend to fiddle with Windows configurations quite a bit, e.g. permanent swap file size, cache size etc, but I can't yet pinpoint the cause of this annoying dilemma.
Also how can I stop the floppy drive seek when I first open My Computer. I know Windows doesn't do this by default.
Your help would be appreciated as always. Keep up the good work.
- Brett Noack
A A number of Help Screen readers have written in to complain about their over-active floppy drives. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to pinpoint the cause.
Many word processors include an automatic backup feature, whereby open documents are periodically saved to disk. Although this is useful insurance for those who forget to save work regularly, it can cause unwelcome delays -- especially when working with large documents on floppy disks. One solution is to work exclusively with files on the hard disk: copy files to a temporary directory on the hard drive before editing, and then copy them back to the floppy when the job is done.
Peter Moore, Windows product manager at Microsoft, suggests that users who are experiencing this type of problem try the following strategies.
1. Open c:\windows\win.ini in Notepad and disable any LOAD= statements. You can do this by placing a semi-colon (;) at the start of any line which begins with the text LOAD=. If these changes have no effect on floppy drive activity when you restart Windows -- or if critical apps have been disabled -- reopen win.ini and remove the semi-colons you added earlier.
2. Clear out all recent documents. Right-click on a blank area of the Windows 95 taskbar (at the bottom of your screen), select the Start Menu Programs tab, and hit the Clear button. Repeat this procedure periodically.
3. Make sure there are no .pif files on the desktop that point to the floppy drive.
4. Check the properties of applications in your StartUp group. To do this, use Explorer to examine the StartUp folder (probably c:\windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp). Right-click each item in this group and choose Properties. If applicable, select the Shortcut tab. Have a look at the Target and Start in fields. If there are any references to Drive A:, edit them so that they point to an appropriate directory on your hard disk.
Note: many applications can be configured to reference the floppy drive, either by editing their command lines (through a Windows Properties dialogue box), or through a menu option which allows the user to specify file locations. Have a look at the applications you use most frequently, and -- if possible -- remove any references to Drive A:.
- Neville Clarkson
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Category: Hardware, Win95
Issue: Mar 1998
Pages: 157-158
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Calm your hyperactive A-drive